The Change of the Emperor
by ArtikGato
Summary: WARNING!! KENLEI FLUFF!! WARNING!! Yolei is captured by the Digimon Emperor, and must figure out a way to escape. An AU fic.


The Change of the Emperor  
  
By ArtikGato  
  
  
Disclaimor: I don't own Digimon. WHY CAN'T THE WORLD BE FAIR???? I do, however, own...a drawing of Matt. ^_^'''   
  
Author's Note: !!WARNING!!MAJOR KENLEI FLUFF!!WARNING!!  
Er, anyway, after that whole 'The Pointlessness of it ALL!!!' mess, I decided to post a serious fic. But even THIS story isn't completely serious. I can't help it, I'm just bad at angsty stuff! ^_^' Anyway, this is a Kenlei romance fic, only Ken is still the Digimon Emperor! Yikes! This is an Alternate Universe fic to how the Digimon Emperor was changed back into the normal Ken, with a LOT less fighting and all. Well, that's my warning.   
'__' are thoughts, and "____" are spoken words. Enjoy the story!  
  
  
'Yolei, what have you gotten yourself into this time??' Was the thought of Yolei Inoue, as she watched the landscape of the Digital World fly by below her. She sighed, and looked up. She was currently inside of a wooden cage, being carried by an Airdramon. Guess who was on the Airdramon? The Digimon Emperor, that's who. 'I just can't believe I did something so stupid...the others are probably worried sick about me now! Man, why did I have to go and get captured by the stupid Digimon Emperor? Stupid Digimon Emperor!'  
She watched the land melt away into the coast line below her, and sighed again.   
'Okay, so it wasn't the BRIGHTEST idea I've ever had, trying to go on a solo mission, then standing up to the Emperor when Hawkmon got hurt. So what? The others will bail me out soon enough...right? Oh, who am I kidding, this is hopeless.' The water below her soon turned into coastline again, and then gradually became a rocky surface, like mountains. The Skulldramon slowed down, and swooped down toward a mountain. They passed around the side of the mountain, revealing a valley. In the center of the valley was a huge stone structure. The Skulldramon swooped down, and landed on a ledge carved in the stone. After setting Yolei's cage down on the ground, the Dragon Digimon took off, probably to carry out some evil command of the Emperor. The Emperor walked up to her cage, and folded his arms.  
"Well, well, well. What shall I do with you?" he asked, to himself.  
"How about letting me go?" Yolei asked, in a tone of hatred.  
"Somehow, I don't think so. What was your name, Yoyo?"  
"YOLEI!! You know DARN well that it's Yolei, baka!" he paid her no heed.  
"Well then, Yolei my dear, are you willing to cooperate with me, or will I have to force you?"  
"To do what?" she asked. He rolled his eyes.  
"What do you think?"  
"I don't know, I can't read minds!" she replied, defiantly. He hissed a little in annoyance.  
"If you weren't so pretty, I'd hurt you," he replied in a deadly tone. She looked surprised.  
'He called me...pretty? What the heck? Did the Digimon Emperor just say something nice??'  
"Well? Are you going to cooperate, or not?"  
"For what?"  
"If you must know, I'm going to imprison you in a cell until I decide what to do with you," he replied.   
"Oh," 'Not too thrilling a prospect...but I don't suppose I have a choice, no do I?'  
"I'll cooperate. It's not like I'm going to get anywhere by struggling," she said. He unlocked her cage, and grabbed her by the arm, jerking her violently out of the cage.  
"Good. This way," he said, dragging her along. She sighed in annoyance, but followed anyway. (after all, he had ahold of her arm, what was she supposed to do?) The Emperor led her through several stone hallways, past many cells with captive Digimon inside. Finally, they came to a stop at an empty one. He unlocked the door, and shoved her inside, closing it with a loud CLANG!!. She walked to the back of the dark cell, and sat down on the cold floor, as the Emperor walked off.   
  
Yolei awoke a couple of hours later, from a pleasant-but-not-so-pleasant dream, sweating. Except, strangely enough, it wasn't a cold sweat. She looked around, and realized where she was  
'Oh, wonderful. Not only is the LAST PLACE I'd ever think I'd be taking a nap, but this is NOT the best of places to be having THAT dream,' she thought, and sighed. 'Though, at least I got to forget about SOME of my troubles while I was asleep,' She was in the few minutes where she remembered most of the dream with crystal clarity. She just wished she could get it out of her head. She'd been having this dream, or at least a dream LIKE this one, for a good year now. Ever since that first time she'd seen Ken on the news, and fallen for his good looks just like the other girls.  
'Except...when he became the Digimon Emperor, I didn't really stop having a crush on him, now did I? Stupid Yolei. How can you like someone that's so evil?' She suddenly flashed on part of her dream. Her whole dream had been...weird, to put it. She wasn't sure how it had started, but she did know that it had to do with Ken. But, not the Digimon Emperor, in her dream, he had been a nice, compassionate, caring Ken, not a cruel heartless monster like the Digimon Emperor.   
'And in my dream, not only was he nice but he was...um...' a blush settled onto Yolei's cheeks. 'Wow, this really ISN'T a good place to be thinking about this dream. The Digimon Emperor's home base...yeah, not the best place in the world to be thinking about making love to Ken...oops...' now Yolei was beginning to turn red.   
'This is weird, I even turn red when there's not anybody around...maybe I just don't like admitting the fact that I'm probably in love with the Digimon Emperor...eugh, that sure sounds weird,' She suddenly heard footsteps coming from down the hall. She blinked, and stood up.   
'Speak of the devil...probably has another Digimon that he's captured or...huh?' the Emperor stood outside her cell...with a tray of food?  
'I'm halucinating. Yeah, that's it,"'  
"If you're going to be hungry in the next twelve hours, I'd suggest coming and getting this food," he said. Ok, maybe she wasn't hallucinating. She stood up, and quickly went to get her food, avoiding looking at the Emperor at all.   
"What is this for?" she asked, still not looking at him.  
"I can't let my captives starve to death...especially when I've got other, more enjoyable ways to torture them," he said. She chanced a look at him, and barely kept herself from gasping. He looked like the normal Ken! Except for the stupid Digimon Emperor outfit. No stupid glasses, no stupid spikey hairdo...he looked like normal. He wasn't even wearing his cape. She quickly looked away, and focused every ounce of concentration she had on not blushing.   
"Well...thanks, I guess...my I ask what you have planned for me?" she asked.   
"Well, I think I'll give you a choice. You can either be killed, stay here in this cell for eternity, or you can be my servant, I suppose," he said. She blinked.  
"Not much of a choice, but at least I can choose my fate..."   
"Of course, you don't have to choose right NOW...you have exactly one hour to choose. If I were you, I'd choose the last one," he said, and quickly walked away. She thought she noticed a slight blush on his cheeks, but, then again, she was probably halucinating. As he was walking away, she flashed on another part of her dream. Ken had said something about not wanting to be the Emperor, or it not being his fault, or something like that. She shrugged, and went back to sit down and eat, and ponder which horrible fate she should choose.   
  
An hour later, the Emperor returned. Yolei was still standing at the back of the cell, pondering. He stood outside her cell for a second.  
"Well? What do you choose?" he asked. She looked up.  
"I choose choice number four," she replied. He looked confused, then annoyed.  
"I only gave you three choices, girl," he replied.   
"I know, but I think I'll like choice number four better," she said.  
"Well, what is it?" he asked.  
"I go free," she said. He scoffed.  
"Like that will ever happen. Sorry, but you have to choose one of the three I gave you," he replied.  
"Oh, I don't think so. See, I have a hunch about you. I don't think you could bring yourself to hurt me," she said, with undaunting confidence.  
"Oh yeah? Why are you so sure?" he asked.  
"I'm not sure why, there's just something about you. I just don't think you're capable of it," she replied.  
"All right, we'll see how confident you are, then!" he said, and unlocked the door. He smirked, and entered the cell. She stood still, and was silent. He approached her, and still she didn't move, and was silent. He finally reached her, and raised a hand, as if to slap her.  
"Still confident?" he asked. She merely looked him straight in the eyes, and said  
"Yes," He blinked, but his hand didn't move at all. She smirked. "Looks like I was right, you can't hurt me after all," she said, sighing a little in relief. 'I took a BIG chance..' He lowered his hand, and took a step back.  
"I don't understand, why couldn't I do it?" he asked.   
"Because I was right about you. You can't bring yourself to hurt me," she said.  
"But why? I don't get it!" he almost shouted.  
"You can hurt Digimon, sure, because you just don't understand that they are living breathing creatures. However, when you're confronted with something that you know is absolutely 100% real, you just can't hurt it," she continued.  
"No, that's not true! I've had no trouble hurting people in the past? Why can't I do it now?" he asked. She blinked.  
'Now to do something to throw him off balance for a second, while I escape!' She had originally planned to do something like punch him in the face, or kick him in a...certain place...^_^... but for some reason, she didn't. Instead, she stepped off of the wall.  
"I think I know why," she said. He looked up.  
"Oh? Why?" he asked, more mockingly than curious. She smiled.  
"Because someone here has a crush!" she replied.   
"Huh?" he asked, a red tinge appearing on his cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about!"  
"Of course you do!" she said, and brought her face closer to his. "Or do I really have to explain it to you? I don't think you're that clueless," she said. He started to step back, a hint of nervousness to him, but before he could, she lunged forward, and pushed her mouth against his. He backed up, shaking.  
"What the hell?" he asked, but Yolei sprinted past him, for the door. He turned around.  
"Oh! So THAT was your plan!" he exclaimed, angrily, and took out a remote control. The door to the cell closed with a clang. Yolei ran up to it and shook it.  
"You locked us in??" she demanded.  
"No way I'm letting you escape after a stunt like that!" he said.   
"But you locked us BOTH in the cell! How are you going to get out?" she asked. Held up the remote control.  
"Don't think I'm stupid enough to lock myself in for good. Now, explain yourself? What the hell did you...kiss me for?" he asked.  
"To confuse you long enough to escape, but obviously, that plan backfired," she said, frustration in her voice. Then, a lightbulb seemed to go off in her head. She stepped in front of the lock to the door, and leaned up against it.  
"Or maybe not. I'll just stay here until you either hand over the remote control, or get fed up and decide to unlock the door anyway," she said, a devious smile on her face. He growled in anger.  
"That's what you think. I think you were wrong about me not being able to hurt you earlier," he said, and stomped up to her. She just smirked at him, as he walked up to her.  
"What are you going to do? Huh? I don't think you can hurt me, in the first place," she said.   
"Oh yeah?" he exclaimed, and lunged his hands forward and grabbed her by the wrists. He pulled her away from the door, but she struggled back, to break his grip. They went on like that for a few minutes before Yolei decided to try and kick him, to throw him off balance. Instead, he dodged, and caught her foot with his foot. Unfortunately, that made her lose her balance and fall forward, sending them both crashing to the ground, Yolei on top, in a tangled up pile.  
"Ow! You idiot, what did you do that for?" she asked, attempting to stand up.  
"Me? What did YOU do THAT for?" he asked, still not letting go of her wrists for some reason, and standing up as well, growing even more red. Yolei started to blush as well.   
"Will you just let me go already? It would save us a whole lot of troub-" Yolei started, but somehow slipped, and landed on her back. Ken tried to let go of her wrists in time, but was too late, and, consequently, was dragged down on top of her.  
'This is ridiculous!' they both thought. Yolei was about ready to yell for him to get off of her, when she suddenly noticed that she could feel herself get warmer. She blushed, and tried to push away the images from her dream, but they wouldn't go away. Ken tried to stand up, still stubbornly holding onto her wrists.   
"If you would just let go of my wrists, this would be a whole lot easier," she pointed out, trying to sound furious to cover up the fact that her body temperature had just risen about 10 degrees. He glared at her.  
"Well...you started it!" was all he could think of to say, trying to also sound mad, and attempting at the same time to decrease the redness in his cheeks. Yolei decided that she really was furious.  
"LET GO OF MY WRISTS!!!" she screamed. He glared at her.  
"No!" he replied. She suddenly got an idea, and smirked.  
"Uh oh.." Ken started, but didn't get to finish the idea, because Yolei suddenly lunged forward and kissed him again. She figured it was a win-win situation, if he let go from fear or shock, she could get away, and if he didn't....oh well. He started to step back in shock, but decided that he wouldn't fall for her trick twice, and did something that neither of them really expected him to do: kissed her back. She almost stopped the kiss and broke away from shock, but decided that she wasn't going to let him use her own 'trick' against her. So, they just stood there and kissed eachother, more out of spite or stubborness than anything. It was a strange sight to see, really.. They both decided that they needed to breathe, so they finally broke off at the same time, gasping in air. Yolei looked at Ken. She wasn't sure how to feel about him any more after that stunt. Ken shook his head, and suddenly and unexpectedly let go of her wrists. She stumbled backwards.  
"What did you do that for?" she asked. He sighed.  
"It's not worth it. You were right, I can't hurt you. I don't know why I even captured you in the first place," he said. She looked kind of shocked. His voice didn't sound anything like the Digimon Emperor's voice. It sounded like the Ken from her dreams. He took out his remote, with a defeated sigh, and opened the door.  
"You can go," he said. She looked from the door to him, confused about what to do.  
"It was your plan all along, right? That's the only reason you kissed me in the first place, wasn't it? Well, your plan was a success. Go," he said, still not looking at her. She looked at him with pity.  
"No, that's not it...I..." she started.  
"Please go. I...don't like people toying with my heart. Just go away," he said, shaking. She looked sorry now. He slumped to the floor, shaking, but refusing to cry.  
"Oh...Ken..I...I didn't know you felt that way...I just thought-"  
"Please just go..." he repeated. She felt her eyes start to well up with tears.   
'All this time...I was right?' She walked over to him, and knelt down, putting a hand on his shoulder. She started to speak, but he cut her off.  
"Didn't you hear me? Please just leave me alone! You win! Or do you want something else from me?" he asked. She couldn't help but feel guilty about what had happened. She just couldn't believe that the Digimon Emperor was crying because of...her...  
"I'm so sorry..." she started, trying to keep herself from crying. "I didn't mean to hurt you...I mean, I thought because you were tough and evil and all that it wouldn't hurt you.." she started.  
"I suppose you thought I was completely heartless? That I could feel no emotion?" he asked.  
"Well...yes, because of the way you treated the Digimon. They're just like you and me, Ken, living, breathing creatures, that can feel pain, and agony and loneliness...what you did to them...it just made it seem like you didn't have a heart at all..." she said.   
"I suppose I deserve to be lonely and heartbroken, then," he said, moving to stand up.  
"No, no one does. That's why...I have to tell you..." he stopped his move to get up, but refused to look at her. Tears were trickling down her face now.  
"All right, here goes. I love you, Ken. I always have. At first, when you were plastered all over the news all of the time, I liked you just because you were cute and smart and popular. But I know it's love now, because I didn't stop liking you, even when I found out you were the Digimon Emperor, and watched you do all of those horrible things to the Digimon...I don't know why I do...I don't know how I can love a person so cruel and hateful as you...but I do. I'm sorry," she said, and stood up. Ken looked at her astonished. Without words, she started toward the door, sobbing.   
"Wait!" Ken exclaimed, right when she got to the door. She trembled, but didn't turn around.   
"Yolei, wait, I'm sorry...I didn't know I was causing you so much torment," he started. She still didn't turn around.  
"I honestly didn't know that Digimon were real. I always thought they were just data on a computer," he attempted to explain. She shook her head.  
"Do you really expect me to believe that?" she asked, and moved to leave.  
"But it's true! I just thought that this was a computer game. I had no idea...that they were real," he said, a look of sorrow coming on to his face, as he realized all of the horrible things he had done.  
"How could you not?? Davis walked right up to you at one of your soccer games carrying Demiveemon! How could you not realized that Digimon were real??" she demanded, turning around, with a furious look on her face.  
"I...I don't know! I never made the connection!" he replied.   
"And even if you thought you were just playing a video game, why would you be so hateful in the first place?" she continued.  
"I...I...I guess I just got carried away with all of this...but.."  
"But what? No excuse you can give will clear you of guilt, Ken Ichijouji! I may be in love with you, but I also hate you for all of the things you've done to the Digimon!" she practically shouted. He looked like he had just been hit in the face. Tears started to stream out of his eyes.  
"I know I've done a lot of bad things in the past...but you've got to believe me, this isn't entirely my fault!" he said.  
"Then who's fault is it?" she asked.  
"Well...a lot of things drove me to become the Digimon Emperor. Part was the darkness in my soul and my hatred...but some of it wasn't even my fault..." he started. Yolei seemed to lighten up a little.  
"I'm listening." she said.   
"Well...you see, the reason why I became the Emperor of the Digital World instead of some other world, is because I had a great fear of Digimon...when I first came to the Digital World, I just wanted to be friends with the Digimon, but I was attacked by a Digimon, and Wormon saved me. Ever since, I had a fear of the Digimon, which grew into a hatred," he admitted.  
"Not all Digimon are like that. You can't just let one bad Digimon ruin everything for you." she said.  
"Well, I was only around eight years old! It's not like I realized that!" he replied.  
"That doesn't excuse you from hurting our Digimon and us, though! We never tried to hurt you, you came after US first!" Yolei replied.  
"Well...at that time, I thought you were part of the program too..." he started.  
"But when you met some of us in real life, you knew that wasn't true! Why did you keep trying to hurt us?" she asked.  
"I don't know. I got carried away with the whole 'Digimon Emperor' thing. I guess it felt nice to be feared and not viewed as just a nuisance, for a change," he mumbled.  
"What do you mean?" she asked.   
"Believe it or not, I wasn't always a super smart genius. I was just a normal kid...and I'd probably still be a normal kid, at that, if my brother Sam hadn't died," he said.  
"Oh...Ken, I'm sorry..." she started. But Ken continued  
"While Sam was alive, my parents always paid attention to him, but never me. I always thought that they didn't love me, and I wasn't even supposed to be alive. Then, when Sam died, not only was I devastated, but my parents started to pressure me to be smart and all like he used to be. At some point along the line, I decided that they were just using me to be famous, and so I started coming here. Here, I didn't want to be used or viewed as a nuisance, like Sam had seen me while he was still alive. I wanted to get away from all of the people in the Real World that just wanted to use me as their claim to fame," he said.  
"I can't really blame you...gosh, I had no idea being super smart and popular had it's downsides," she said, turning around and taking a few steps toward Ken. He was silent for a second.  
"You know, I don't know why I just poured my heart out to you. You're supposed to be my enemy," he said, realizing the irony of the whole situation.  
"Because you're not my enemy...and because you love me, right?" she asked, stooping down beside him. He was silent, but nodded his head. She was about to say something else, when he stood up.   
"I can't go on living like this. I...I realize now my mistake. I have to try to fix things," he said. She stood up, also.  
"Like how?"   
"By setting all of these Digimon I have trapped free..and trying to clean up the damage I've already done," he said. She looked overjoyed.  
"You mean you're not going to be the Emperor any more??" she asked, estatically. He shook his head.  
"Nope. I'm going to start a clean slate, right here, right now," he said, turning to Yolei. She jumped up and down, happily.  
"All RIGHT!! All our troubles are over!! The others are going to FREAK when I tell them!! Yahoo!! It's just like in my dream!!" she exclaimed.  
"What dream?" he asked. She stopped.  
"Oops..." she started. He looked curious.  
"What dream?" he repeated.  
"Well I had a dream and you said you'd give up being the Emperor and stuff!" she said, scratching the back of her head nervously, and plastering a fake smile on her face. He could tell she was hiding something.  
"And what else happened in the dream?" he asked, even more curious..  
"Ummm...nothing?" she said, sheepishly.   
"Uh huh. Right," he said, and started to walk off. She started to sigh in relief, when he suddenly turned back around.  
"WHAT HAPPENED???" he demanded, catching Yolei off guard and almost making her fall over.  
"I told you, nothing!" she lied again. He folded his arms.  
"Yolei?" he asked.  
"Yeah?" she asked.  
"I don't buy it. What happened?" he asked.  
"Well um...we kissed and stuff," she said.  
"AND??" he asked. She hung her head in defeat, but then perked back up.  
"I don't have to tell you anything!" she exclaimed. He mock glared at her.  
"Fine, don't tell me anything," he said. She smiled in triumph. "I'll just go back to being the Digimon Emperor," he said. She gaped at him.  
"I can't BELIEVE you're bribing me with-" she started.  
"Well?" he asked, a smile of triumph on HIS face now.  
"All right, all right," she grumbled, then took a big breath, and faced away from him.  
"In my dream we sorta had sex and stuff," she said, grudgingly. He gaped at her.  
"Wow, I take this whole crush you've had on me goes pretty far, huh?" he asked. She turned around and glared at him.  
"Well, it's not MY fault! I can' t control what I dream!" she retorted. He raised an eyebrow.  
"Actually, you CAN, to some extent, anyway," Ken replied. She let out a groan of exasperation, an eyebrow twitching menacingly.   
"I should've known you'd say something like that, being a genius and all," she grumbled.  
"Well, was I any good?" he asked. She almost fell over in shock.  
"I can't BELIEVE you're asking me that," she replied.  
"Was I?" he asked, a genuine grin on his face. She growled in anger.  
"Yes, yes, you were fantastic," she replied, her cheeks turning incredibly red at that. He grinned, as if victorious over something.  
"Of course, that was just a dream, you know, that might not be how it is in real life," she replied, smiling evilly. He hung his head, but then smiled evilly himself.  
"Well, there's only one way to find out..." She gawked at him. He blushed.  
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" he exclaimed, waving his hands around.   
"Actually, that's not such a bad idea," she said, smiling seductively at him. He paled, sweat running off him in his nervousness.  
"Huh?" he asked, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.  
"How about it, are there any beds in this place?" she asked. He paled even more, but nodded, nervously. She grinned.  
"Just kidding!!"   
  
Heh...suprise twist ending, huh? I don't know what possessed me to write this...but oh well. Review, if you liked it! 


End file.
